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Man Sentenced To 32 Years For Child Sex Assault

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MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ/AP) - A former medical resident convicted of sexually assaulting and critically injuring his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter has been sentenced to 32 years in prison.

A Macomb County judge called 33-year-old David Montaldi “evil” before sentencing him Tuesday. The judge said he didn’t believe Montaldi could be rehabilitated.

Montaldi was convicted last month on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree child abuse.

A jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case earlier this year. Montaldi was charged with first-degree child abuse and first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Montaldi first told his then-girlfriend, who he had been dating for about six months, that his 150 pound dog had laid on and injured her daughter in December 2010. He later changed his story, claiming he slipped and dropped the girl. Police said it was determined that the child had suffered sexual and other abuses.

Judge James Biernat Jr. handed down the strongest sentence possible, saying Montaldi lied to try to cover up his actions, The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reported.

“What kind of person … rapes a 13-month-old, and beats the child almost to death?” Biernat said in court. “In your case, your evil deeds did not derive from your environment. It’s ingrained in your DNA. You’re an evil person, period.”

Montaldi told the judge that he “lost it,” saying he “never should have lied in the first place.”

The girl, who is now almost 3-years-old, appears to have forgotten the incident, although following the assaults she was afraid of men, her mother told the court.

“She luckily will never have a memory of him or the vicious attack. I am, however, haunted by this forever,” she said.